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Large quasi-circular features beneath frost on TritonSpecially processed Voyager 2 images of Neptune's largest moon, Triton, reveal three large quasi-circular features ranging in diameter from 280 to 935 km within Triton's equatorial region. The largest of these features contains a central irregularly shaped area of comparatively low albedo about 380 km in diameter, surrounded by crudely concentric annuli of higher albedo materials. None of the features exhibit significant topographic expression, and all appear to be primarily albedo markings. The features are located within a broad equatorial band of anomalously transparent frost that renders them nearly invisible at the large phase angles (alpha greater than 90 deg) at which Voyager obtained its highest resolution coverage of Triton. The features can be discerned at smaller phase angles (alpha = 66 deg) at which the frost only partially masks underlying albedo contrasts. The origin of the features is uncertain but may have involved regional cryovolcanic activity.
Document ID
19920043430
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Helfenstein, Paul
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Veverka, Joseph
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Mccarthy, Derek
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Lee, Pascal
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Hillier, John
(Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
February 14, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 255
ISSN: 0036-8075
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
92A26054
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2084
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-2186
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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